Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Mad Monday for Red Sox

Who could have predicted such an eventful day for Theo Epstein and his staff? First, reports circulated that John Lackey was in Boston for a physical. Not long after, there were rumblings of a five-year, $85 million deal that will soon be announced, assuming Lackey passed the physical.

Then, there was word that the Red Sox had agreed on a two-year deal with Mike Cameron, who figures to split time in left with Jeremy Hermida while also backing up Jacoby Ellsbury and J.D. Drew.

So ask yourself this: Who would help the Red Sox win more games in 2010? Jason Bay or John Lackey? I guess we won’t fully be able to answer this question until we see how the rest of the offseason shakes out.

Will the Red Sox turn around and trade Buchholz to get a star hitter? Adrian Gonzalez? Miguel Cabrera?

In other words, the offseason is still in full motion for Theo and the Red Sox.

I do like Lackey — a lot. He is one of those tough as nails competitors. The image of Lackey cussing out manager Mike Scioscia when he was given that hook in Game 5 of the ALCS against the Yankees speaks volumes about how much this guy wants to win. If that game was going to be lost, he wanted to be out there. He didn’t want his game decided by his bullpen.

So the Red Sox now have what could be a terrific rotation. Lester. Beckett. Lackey. Buchholz. Dice-K. And, of course, Wakefield.

If there are no more major moves with the offense, the lineup for 2010 could look something like this. Ellsbury-Pedroia-V.Mart-Youkilis-Ortiz-Drew-Cameron-Kotchman-Scutaro. I’m sure Theo has another bat or two up his sleeve, but that is how the tentative current roster would set up.

No official word yet on when the Lackey deal will be announced, but Tuesday seems like a logical guess.

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23 Comments

I guess it makes sense to pay a guy $17MM who has averaged 170 IP and 11 wins over the past two seasons. Am I missing something here? That tells me one thing for sure…… Beckett is gone after this year. Does Lackey win more games for the Sox than Jason Bay? I don’t think so. Of course, we now have Mike Cameron in LF who fits in well with the rest of the rapidly weakening lineup. The big bat is “gulp” David Ortiz unless the Sox come up with Cabrera or Gonzalez. Great pitching is wonderful, but you gotta score runs to win games.

Oh yeah, and Brian, we got our favoritel guy of all time, Boof Bonzer. How did that happen?

I know those ridiculous pick up of Bonzer, Ramirez and others are precursor to a big move. Theo is not done yet. I think he is working on a big bat.
Mike Cameron and Hermida at the left field, we are sure that Bay is gone and Holliday is not coming to Fenway (thank God) barring a last minute surprise move. Cameron (comprable to the Yanks pick up of Granderson) is tailor made for the Fenway; he will be attacking the Green monster and leave indelible dents on the walls.
Talented as he is, I am not sold on Buchholz who had a terrific first half of the second half of the season. Unless proven otherwise, Buchholz is still at best a no. 4 starter.

This time of year I start to think positive. Everything looks rosy for the Sox in December.

Lackey will finally break the 20 wins barrier. Beckett will also win 20. And why not Lester, Dice-K and Buchholz too? The Sox could be the first team ever to have five 20 game winners!
And Boof Stinking Bonzer will throw strikes and be lights out every trip to the mound. Mike Cameron and Hermida will combine to hit 40 HR’s and drive in 120! Ortiz will be Papi again. Drew will play 120 quality games. Everyone will have a career year.
Don’t worry there will be plenty of time to complain during the season. For now, I am only looking at the bright side!

Oh, did I mention that during a Spring Training game in March 2010 Tito [that’s Uncle Tito to you, Andrew] gets struck by lightening right on top of his shiny bald dome and suddenly morphs into an in-game managing genius!!! My prediction, you heard it here first!

Go back to August of 2008. The RedSox don’t acquire Jason Bay from Pittsburgh and he stays there. What is his price tag in free agency then???? Seems that the RedSox brought him to national exposure and if not for them he’s mired in the steel city… Just things that make you wonder.

First comment, now that Halladay is in the NL, I look for about 25+ wins and 10+ CGs. He’s gonna kill, now that he’s out of the AL East (and the AL period). Second comment, as much as I love great pitching, someone said it best in that you have to score runs to win. Given Ortiz’ sliding skills and Bay’s likely departure and no Holliday for the Sox, we need to sell off some pitching to get some slugging. I like Cabrera but I like Gonzalez better. And if we’re going to be giving up pitching, I’d rather it be Beckett and Papelbon, rather than Buchholz and Bard. One thing is for sure–if this is the end of the wheeling and dealing, this team sits out the playoff this year.

There is no way Beckett will be traded. Buch, Bard, Kelly etc are what other teams want and they are all that would be accepted by Detroit or San Diego. Maybe paps but Buch would be going with him. Especially if we’re talking about the Padres, because they love pitching, and their GM knows the sox as well as Theo does, and wouldn’t accept anything less.

And yeah, it’s looking like we’ll be rooting for the NL in the WS this year.

Torthox! Welcome back! Long time no see! I hope you are well.
Hey, Ron! I hope you’ve been doing well, also!
No, I don’t think Beckett will be traded–yet, anyway. We’ll see if he signs another extension, or if he is traded at the Trade Deadline before he hits FA. (I hope the former). Pap AND Buch? We’d BETTER get Adrian out of that deal–and without Kelly or anyone else! But I don’t think Beckett will be dealt to get a bat. Cetainly possible, but I doubt it.
It would be interesting (and fun!) to watch Bob Gibson and Roy Halladay duel, wouldn’t it? Halladay is a CG machine, even when he does not have his best stuff. I love that about him!

I just read your message and I’m glad the new medication you have taken is helping you see the stars !(LOL).
Honestly I have NO idea what will happen in 2010. Baseball is entirely unpredictable. I suppose I should be excited by Looney Lackey but I just read his comments:
.
“Hey MOM, I need my snoopy underwear for Boston. It’s cold out there. Get it NOW!”
A sigh
“Yes dear”
“Goodbye California and hello to the Pacific ocean!”
“Dear,” sighed Lackey’s mother. “We used to live on the Pacific. Now its the Atlantic ocean. The Cold, snowy…”
“#$#$#. Why didn’t you tell me. Look what you made me do. I just soiled my pants. WAHHHHHHHHHH”
A sigh.
“Oh Terry Francona will love you!”

Lackey’s a workhorse. Cameron is a steady player — both will help the Sox. If the pitchers are healthy and pitch well, we’ll be fine, but without that oomph in the lineup, someone said there’d be no playoffs. I tend to agree. I don’t think the Sox will land Gonzo just because of the GM’s knowledge of the talent base in the farm and he’ll want WAY too much for him. I don’t see Beck or Paps going anywhere anytime soon. The whole Bay situation really disappointed me. I thought he’d WANT to stay in Boston. Guess he has decided he’s worth Yankee money.

OMG….
How old is Cameron….36/37? A lot of people on here are concerned with Bay’s strikeouts….Cameron whiffs more. If he and Hermida are the answer the Sox are in a lot of trouble in LF. This is not good. I hope Theo has something else up his sleeve. They’ll give a guy who is 37 and mediocre a 2 year deal and just say goodbye to a 31 year old who they could lock up until he is 36. What gives? Give Bay $80 Million for 5 years and be done with it. LF will be our new achilles heal if the Sox decide to play the waiting game. And now I see the Yankees are interested in Bay. Good grief. Quit feeding the Yankess!!!!!!! They will spend the $$$$$ if it means repeating 2009. I am distressed. I need some of that stuff Arnie is taking!!!!!!!!
Go Sox!

The Sox will announce the Lackey and Cameron deals most likely tomorrow (Wednesday). The Sox are paying Lackey $16.5MM a year to be the no.2 starter just about the same $$$$ the Yanks are paying AJ Burnett. Lackey better win 20 wins. I’d pick Lackey over AJ any time.
With Theo’s baseball instinct, he must have a good reason to pick a 36/37 year old to replace Bay. Bay grew up in a remote little village with population of just over 7,000 in BC. Who knows, maybe Bay doesn’t like the limelight of a big market team like Boston. Or is it just $$$$.
I expect another big move at 1st or 3rd.

I hope you’re right about Bay not liking the limelight (although I don’t know that that’s the issue), as that would rule out both NYC teams. He might have trouble getting the kind of $$ he is reportedly pursuing if so, however. (Decisions, decisions…). He might have to pick his poison on that one.
We’ll see if this LF instinct is accurate with Cameron and Hermida in LF right now. Perhaps one of them will be a further piece in a trade, though. Here goes nada…Hmmm!…
GO SOX!

I like the acquisition of Lackey as it puts the starting pitching in a very comfortable position. With Bay leaving, Cameron is a fill in guy and it was smart to pick him up. The idea of trading Lowell for a solid young catching prospect might have paid dividends later in the year as that position still needs to be bolstered.

Ortiz sliding numbers remain a concern to me. I don’t have a suggestion of who could be brought into that position, but we should not trade away Bucholtz or Bard to pick up another bat.

I think that the Lackey signing is obviously good thing, especially if Beckett, Lester, Dice-K and Buchholz all perform as well as we know they can, and we can’t forget about Wake and his ageless knuckle ball.

From a pitching standpoint, we have gotten better. I should say starting pitching shouldn’t I? We’ve lost Wagner and Saito, and as a nation we’re losing confidence in Delcarmen. Our bullpen needs something.

Offensively we’ve gotten worse, losing not only the obvious bat in Bay but also the moderately underrated Lowell.

People talk about Atkins and Beltre. Please, all of you, look at their offensive numbers. Both had less than 10 homers, I believe, both had miserable averages. I’m no GM, but i can’t see how we’ll match our run production from last year.

Maybe a big trade? Maybe another frustrating year in New England. But then again, this is baseball, maybe Theo is smarter than he seems…stay tuned.

And people also talk about Beltre’s defense, Lowell really wasn’t bad. he was above average for us and was a solid play maker, unless this Max Ramirez ends up being really outstanding, this trade is going to hurt.

I go back to what Garry said about Lowell, range at 3rd base is not as important as a stready glove and good reaction. Lowell excels at both of those. Who gives two cents about range at 3rd. SS and 2B maybe…Not so much at the corners. I jsut wonder what theo is up to….I know he doesn’t want a platoon situation in LF…

Craig,
I can give you the secret to abiding happiness during the baseball off season: Since the players won’t actually play a game until months from now, one must look at “potential”. And, God bless ‘em, our Sox are simply ooozing potential from every pore. Take our right fielder JD Drew. In July we’ll be berating him left and right for yet another weak grounder to 2nd base with runners on. Some fool will come here to defend his on base percentage, and we’ll pee our collective pants laughing out loud. But in December, he’s almost the best right fielder in the league, who will stay healthy[within reason] and carry the team for months at a stretch.
How about Manny Delcarmen: more potential in his gifted right arm than Jim Lonborg and Dick Radatz combined….Ok so that’s a lie…. He’s absolutely going to have the breakout season of all breakout season’s!!!! I can feel it in my bones! Just don’t ask me in July.
From April to September there will be plenty of time for weeping and gnashing of teeth. So enjoy the winter!!
As fans, this is our time!!!! This is our chance to scheme and plot the glories of the season to come!
This is the time of year when I boldly predict that Mike Cameron will gaze up at the Green Monster the first time he trots out to left field and be inhabited by the ghost of Ted W and he will be inspired to hit laser beams over the wall! Once again, don’t bring up this post in August when the Fenway Faithful are attempting to expectorate in Mike’s general direction because he sucks.
Craig, be happy! The sun is shining on Red Sox Nation!

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